


The Cadet

by ComeBackWhen



Series: The Enemy [2]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen, Little bit of angst, mentions of prior major character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 08:07:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7306816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComeBackWhen/pseuds/ComeBackWhen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A brief follow up to the events of The Enemy. What happens to Cadet Strife in the aftermath?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cadet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yuutousei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuutousei/gifts).



> This is something I’ve wanted to finish since I wrote the ending to The Enemy. I’ve actually been working on it in bits and pieces all the way since then. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get the dialogue between Cloud and Zack quite right. It finally started coming together earlier this week and now I’m here posting it at stupid o’clock in the morning. 
> 
> Also thanks to 10kiaoi on tumblr for the original prompt way back when and Yuutousei for the review that sparked this follow up. Hopefully it’s a little easier on your feels. <3

"General, sir, we gotta talk."

Zack tried hard not to flinch, but he knew that Kunsel would have already noticed the way his shoulders had tensed. When he turned to face his Second Class friend, his smile was not forced, but neither was it as easy as it had once been. They never seemed to be these days, "You're going to have to get in line, man. The President wants three squads on their way to Cosmo Canyon an hour ago. I've got to get orders out."

He wanted to be annoyed when Kunsel slid under his arm and into Sephiroth's office ahead of him, but he did not have the energy for it. He had been avoiding Kunsel and his young charge since he had returned from his trip to Gongaga. At first, it really had been due to how busy he had been. Lazard had helped to hold things together while Zack took the week off to regroup and mourn, but certain things required an actual Soldier's touch and the other Soldiers who were waiting at Shinra decided that Soldier would be Zack Fair. Zack had no idea how these veteran Soldiers could stand taking orders from such a rookie First, even if he had been trained by the elite Soldier Firsts.

It was not like he was even given a choice. The second he stepped off the elevator, every single Soldier called him sir and started turning up to his desk for orders. Lazard had been no better, all but ordering Sephiroth's old secretary to pack up Zack's office and move him to the one Sephiroth had always used. Zack had not argued it, settling into the new roll with a minimum of fuss. It really would help his plans in the long run anyway, if he was supposed to be the one heading off the apocalypse.

Even once the initial push for his attention had been met, Zack continued to put Kunsel off. While he was willing to step into Sephiroth's ridiculous thigh high boots, there was one decision that he staunchly refused to make. He let Kunsel take a seat while he hung the Fusion Sword in the wall brackets that had been adjusted to suit it. He was relieved when Kunsel took the bait, "Cosmo Canyon?"

"It's the latest acquisition to the Wutai empire, according to Godo Kisaragi." Zack crossed the room to look out the windows behind the heavy wooden desk, rather than meet his friend's helmeted gaze, "At first, it was kinda funny, you know? Lord Godo would declare a new city to be part of Wutai, we'd go out there to find that there wasn't a ninja in sight. The town got a look at some Soldiers and renewed their allegiance to Shinra and Rufus. No big deal. This time, Bugenhagen tells the Soldier scouts that Cosmo Canyon has decided to recognise Lord Godo as their rightful leader and then he kicks them out and puts a guard on the gate. Apparently, they've got one of the last of the canyon's ancient protectors living there... some kind of fire-cat that none of them wanted to tangle with."

"The Cosmo Canyon elders _have_ always said that mako energy is killing the Planet." Kunsel murmured with a thoughtful frown, "So we're going in?"

Zack shrugged and sat in the big leather chair behind Sephiroth's desk, "I'm hoping that when the squads of Soldiers show up, Bugenhagen will reconsider. Lord Godo can't reinforce them and Rufus will put down any rebellion. He has to. His presidency is still too new. If he doesn't stand up to Bugenhagen, Fort Condor and some of the smaller, more distant towns wouldn't be far behind them in rebelling."

Kunsel nodded slowly, his mind already working out the logistics of a mission like that, "You'll have to be careful who you send in. There are plenty of Soldiers who would object to fighting people who are essentially pacifists."

"Which is why, as much as I enjoy your company..." Zack gestured toward the door meaningfully.

"Sir. _Zack_." Kunsel settled himself more solidly in the seat before Sephiroth's desk, "You can't keep putting me off. We've got to talk about Cloud."

A muscle in Zack's cheek jumped. Even a month after the death of Angeal, Genesis and Sephiroth, just hearing Cloud's name set his teeth on edge. Logically, he knew that the Cloud that Kunsel was talking about was not the man that had killed the others, but he could be and that was-

"Why do you keep calling it _Sephiroth's_ desk?"

Zack snorted his hands dropping to the ground behind him to support his weight as he leaned back, "Really Aeris, _that's_ the part of the story that sticks out to you?"

Aeris looked up from her flowers and wrinkled her nose at him, "Seems to be the most significant part, if you ask me."

"The fate of the tiny would-be time traveler is less interesting than the way I describe a desk?" Zack asked, hoping to deflect his discomfort with a joke.

Aeris did not bite. She never did. He both loved and hated the way he could count on her to not let him brush off his real thoughts with a smile and a laugh, "It's all part of a whole. You don't want to deal with Cloud, the younger, because it makes you confront the fight with Cloud, the elder, all over again. You're not ready for that. You haven't changed a single thing in Sephiroth's office because that would make it your office instead and you're not ready for that either."

"It's not like that!" Zack protested, "Seph had good taste-"

The expression on Aeris's face was so unlike her that the words died in his throat. The flat line of her mouth and the arched eyebrow was so very Sephiroth that it made his chest ache, "You came into his office on a regular basis to complain about how ugly the furniture was. Loudly."

With a heavy blink, her face was her own again. She shook her head a little and went back to her flowers. Zack combed his fingers through the hair at the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah, okay, maybe I did. It's so heavy and impersonal. Seph wasn't really like that."

"Seems silly to be so hung up on it then." Aeris murmured, cutting flowers to go into her basket the utmost care.

"The whole thing with Cloud is a little more complicated than going out and buying a new desk." Zack replied, his head dropping back against the wooden pew behind him, "I can't let him become a Soldier... if there even is a Soldier anymore. I might have killed the older one, but that wasn't worth anything if I let the younger one grow up to _become_ him... but I also can't just let him go-"

"Zack, you're not going to be able to just think yourself to a solution." Aeris said, steady hands snipping blooms and putting them in the basket without pause, "You can't keep him, because he'll become a Soldier, but you can't let him go in case someone else figures out how to make him a Soldier. You'll keep going in circles until something forces your hand."

Zack tilted his head, studying her from underneath his lashes, "I just don't want to screw this up. It's too important."

Aeris's smile was kind as she climbed to her feet, "The only way you'll screw it up is by doing nothing."

"Oh, I don't know..." Zack drawled, his lips quirking up in a wry smile as he jumped up to walk her toward the church doors, "I've always been pretty disaster prone, rushing headlong into one scrape or another. I bet I could come up with plenty of ways to botch the whole thing."

Aeris clucked in amused disapproval. She stopped in the doorway and patted him on the forearm, "Everything will be alright... and they'll be behind you, whatever you decide."

Zack's smile was a little lopsided, "I wish they were just here to help me take care of it. They prepared me for a lot of things, but judging an innocent kid who has the very real possibility of becoming a murdering looney was not one of them."

That surprised a laugh out of Aeris... or maybe she was laughing over some stray thought or impression she got from the Lifestream. It was always hard to tell with her. She nudged him playfully with her hip, "Walk me home and then go make a decision about the poor kid... tomorrow make ShinRa buy you a new desk."

"Yes ma'am." Zack tossed her a lazy salute, "You sure _you_ don't want the job? You seem pretty comfortable ordering Soldiers around."

"Right... I could go stomping around the Soldier floor in Sephiroth's jacket scowling at men twice my size." Aeris giggled behind her hand, "Could you imagine?"

Zack leered at her, wiggling his eyebrows teasingly, "Can I picture you in thigh high boots and all that black leather? Hm... I mean, I'd really have to think about it a second-"

With an indignant squeak, Aeris shoved him through the church doors. Her cheeks were bright pink, still unused to Zack's easy flirting, "Zack! That's not what I- oh! You're terrible. That's it, march mister!"

Flinging a careless arm around her shoulders, Zack fell into step beside Aeris. Despite the short amount of time he had known her, Zack could not imagine what he would do without her. She was surprisingly unflappable on the big things, no matter what he said and always gave him her honest opinion when he asked. She approached the world with common sense and kindness in a way that reminded him a lot of Angeal without the stern, moral lectures his mentor had been legendary for. She was also far easier to fluster on the little things, which had been fun in its own way.

She did not let him linger, shooing him off as soon as her house was in sight. Zack knew she was right, of course, but he was not going to go seek out Cloud and Kunsel tonight. Instead, he was going to fortify himself with one more night's sleep and make his decision in the morning.

Fate, and Cloud Strife, seemed to have other plans.

Zack knew he should not be surprised to see the blond cadet, sitting against the wall opposite his apartment with his knees pulled against his chest and his head resting against them. He looked like he might have fallen asleep waiting for Zack to come home. Kunsel had told him that Cloud seemed more and more agitated as the days turned into weeks without word. The boy had apparently been oddly tight lipped about the whole thing, reminding Kunsel often that Sephiroth had told him not to discuss their conversation with anyone.

Kunsel had looked equally put out when Zack had not taken the hint and filled him in. Had it been any other situation, Zack would have thoroughly enjoyed frustrating his friend by keeping secrets. Kunsel would have sniffed it out for himself anyway. This was different, though, so he had grimly shown Kunsel out and told him to ask Cloud to remain patient a little longer.

Cloud's head jerked up when he heard Zack's booted feet coming down the hall. He struggled to stand from the folded position, wincing as the blood began flowing to his legs again, "General Fair, sir."

"Take it easy, kid." Zack waved off the formality, "How long have you been here?"

"I, uh, I don't..." His blue eyes looked bleary and a little swollen. He had definitely fallen asleep, "What time is it?"

Zack only shook his head, "Late enough that you should be asleep in a bed and not in the hallway outside of my apartment. I was planning to come track you down in the morning. Can you just hold off until then?"

It was plain to see that Cloud was struggling to agree with him. He swallowed hard, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. His eyes slid to the floor to hide his anger and disappointment with Zack's brush off. Zack sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "Alright... alright. Just get in here, then."

He did not wait to see if Cloud followed him, using his keycard to open the lock and then leaving the door open behind him. It was easy enough to hear Cloud scramble to follow him in, almost as if he feared that Zack would suddenly change his mind... and Bahamut help him, he wanted to.

Zack kicked off his boots and pulled his sword free of its sheath to hang it on the wall, "You want something to drink? I got two or three kinds of soda or water...?"

"Water... please?" Cloud asked, toeing off his own shoes and lining them up neatly beside Zack's boots.

He took his time filling a glass to compose himself. Aeris had been right, he was not going to think his way to a solution on this. Instead, he decided to let the kid talk. Zack had always trusted his instincts and they had never really steered him wrong before. Grabbing a soda for himself, it only to give his hands something to do, he headed back into the living room.

Cloud had only come a few steps into the apartment, his attention fixed on the four swords hanging on the wall. Zack cleared his throat to try and catch the cadet's attention, holding out the glass of water for him, "Sorry. I've been told by a couple of people that it's kind of morbid to display them like that, but I couldn't just leave them to rust or let someone steal them... it didn't seem right, you know?"

"It's not morbid." Cloud replied, his voice quiet, "It's nice... something to remember them by."

"It also ran off a lot of the busy bodies the first couple of weeks after..." Zack winced and cracked open the lid of his can of soda, "Well, after."

It was impossible to miss the way Cloud's shoulders tensed at that. Zack gestured at the couch and kept talking, trying to lighten the conversation, "Anyway, I've also got a couple of things that I know were special to them. I like to think they would have wanted me to have them. It helps me to remember everything they taught me."

Cloud nodded, hurriedly taking a sip from the glass of water in his hand before setting it aside. Silence settled between them, heavy and awkward. Zack drummed his fingers against the cool metal of the can and said, "I can't believe you gave Kunsel the slip. Does he have any idea you're up here?"

"I, uh... not exactly." Zack could see the flush crawling up Cloud's neck, "He's been teaching me to cast materia. I held on to his seal materia this afternoon..."

Zack snorted, nearly choking on the soda he had been swallowing, "You cast sleepel on him so you could sneak up here?"

Cloud hunched his shoulders, his blush darkening, "He kept saying that I just had to give you time. I tried to wait, sir, and I'm sorry for barging up here, but I couldn't keep sitting back and hoping it would work itself out. Kunsel's great but he doesn't know what was actually going on and if he did he would have never just waited-"

Clapping a hand over Cloud's mouth, Zack demanded, "Breathe."

He could feel Cloud draw in a deep breath through his nose, his eyes wide and jumping between Zack's face and the hand covering his mouth. He let it out again, the tension going out of his shoulders. When he was sure that Cloud would not immediately start babbling again, Zack pulled his hand back, "Geez, kid. I'm not mad at you. I'm actually a little impressed. Kunsel won't be when he figures out what happened, but we'll deal with that tomorrow. You deserve answers, there's no question about it. I'm just not sure what to say."

"Are you going to kill me?" Cloud asked, voice flat.

"What!?" Zack yelped. He stared at Cloud, "Why would I- where'd you get an idea like _that_?"

Cloud scowled and crossed his arms across his chest. For the first time, Zack could see the elder Strife in the young blond in front of him. It was unsettling, but not nearly as bad as Zack had feared it would be, "I've had a Soldier escort for almost a month now... and despite what you implied when you talked to Kunsel the day after I met him, it's not because you're scouting me for Soldier. After... everything, I figured I'd get sent back to my squad. When I stayed with Kunsel instead, I thought that maybe you needed me for something... or that General Sephiroth had said something before... but the longer it went on, the more I worried."

"What makes you think you have anything to do with what happened to Sephiroth, Angeal and Genesis?" Zack asked, hoping that he could turn Cloud away from the line of questioning he was pursuing.

The look Cloud gave him was equal parts incredulous and derisive, "Right... and that whole thing General Sephiroth said about me having the unfortunate luck to look like the target of some secret mission was just so I could get out extra latrine duties because he didn't actually believe in the curfew rules. Oh, and you haven't been avoiding me, you really do think I deserve to get special one-on-one training from a Second Class Soldier. In fact, you were coming tomorrow to tell me I was getting promoted to Third Class!"

Zack just stared at him in open-mouthed shock. From everything that Kunsel had said about Cloud, he had been quiet and a little shy. He hardly said anything at all unless he was spoken to first. Even when he was frustrated, he had not complained.

"What?" Cloud snapped, "Maybe you're not going to kill me, but you're going to throw me out anyway. I may as well speak my mind."

"I'm not going to throw you out." Zack replied, not realizing he had made his decision until the words were out of his mouth.

Cloud looked more surprised than he was, "You're not?"

"No. I'm not." Zack sighed and set his soda aside. He leaned forward with his forearms against his legs and clasped his hands between his knees, "Kunsel said you have promise and I know that it's true. I'm not going to let that go to waste."

Instead of looking relived or pleased by the compliment, Cloud sagged back against the couch, "Oh."

"...unless you wanted to go home?"

"No." Cloud was quick to say, "It's not that. I've always wanted to be a Soldier. It's just... I know that I had something to do with the General and the Commanders dying. The day that you came to talk to Kunsel about General Sephiroth's request for him to train me, I accidentally saw the text on your phone. Commander Rhapsodos wanted to know if you were ready for your Strife-baiting trip to the wastes. Plus there was the whole thing with the target looking like me..."

Zack ran his hand through the hair at the back of his neck with a nervous chuckle, "Well, you said your Dad might be a Soldier-"

"Strife is my Ma's name."

"Oh." Zack wilted, "Damn. Listen, if I told you to leave it alone, is there _any_ chance you would listen to me?"

All the color drained from Cloud's face, "It was my fault."

"No. It wasn't." Zack replied, grabbing Cloud's chin and forcing him to look up, "You were here the whole time doing exactly what we asked you to."

Cloud's expression was pleading, though Zack couldn't decide if he was asking for the truth or begging Zack to tell him that he was wrong and the man who had killed Angeal, Genesis and Sephiroth had nothing to do with him. In the end, Zack decided that honesty was the best course. He told Cloud everything, from the mysterious appearance of the blond Soldier all the way through the fight in the wastes and Strife's story. He also told Cloud a number of the things that Sephiroth and Genesis had told him while Angeal was recovering from his first fight with Strife, just to get it all on the table at once.

Every time he had imagined this conversation, Zack had worried over what he would say to Cloud about his older counterpart. He imagined lying and saying it had been his father, suffering from a prolonged berserk spell or mako addiction. Or a perfect stranger who had similar coloring from a distance. He had come up with a dozen ideas, each more ridiculous than the last. Never once had he considered telling Cloud the truth.

To be fair, the truth sounded absolutely unbelievable. Zack was there, had seen the proof with his own eyes, and still had moments where he could not believe it. Still, people keeping the truth from Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal had started them down the path that led to Strife's arrival in the first place. If he did not tell Cloud everything, he was no better than Hojo or Shinra Sr. had been.

When Zack was finished, he waited for Cloud to say something. The blond looked like he was going to be ill. Zack gave him time to gather his thoughts without saying anything more. He knew from personal experience that it was a lot to take in.

When he did finally speak, Cloud's voice was strained, "I don't want to turn out that way. Sephiroth was my hero a-and I respected the Commanders... how could I- how could everything have gone so wrong? What do I do?"

Cloud turned his gaze up to meet Zack's, that same pleading in his eyes that had been in Strife's immediately before they started fighting. The desperate hope that Zack could come up with something that would fix things at the last moment, to keep everything from spiraling horribly out of control. Unlike that day in the wastes, Zack gave into the urge to comfort Cloud. He clapped his hand on Cloud's shoulder and said, "You're going to stick with me and make better choices than he did. You're not him and a lot of things have changed already, so you'll never be him."

"You'll help me?" Cloud asked, the hint of something like trust in his voice, "Even though-"

"Even though nothing." Zack interrupted, "Just because Strife is gone and some things have changed doesn't mean that everything's okay now. There's a lot to do to prevent things from getting as bad as Strife said they did and I could use help. I need someone who knows the truth to work with me and I was serious about the potential in you. Let's put it to good use. What do you say?"

"Please?" Cloud's lips twitched up in a brief smile, " _Yes_?"

Zack chuckled and let go of Cloud's shoulder with a squeeze, "Both good answers. I've got a spare room here... what do you say we go wake up your good for nothing babysitter and let him know you'll be staying with me from now on? I can't wait to tease him for letting a cadet get the drop on him!"

"Especially since he taught me to use materia." Cloud added with another tiny smile, "...and the spell was cast with materia I stole from him."

"Yep. This just gets better and better." Zack grinned and climbed to his feet with a groan, "We'll have to figure out all the details tomorrow... and I've still got to be the General, so I don't know how this is really going to work. On the other hand, I am the boss around here, so I guess it's going to work however I say it does."

Zack thought he heard Cloud stifle a chuckle, but didn't want to make the kid self-conscious by looking at him to confirm it. Instead he grabbed Cloud's shoes from beside the door and tossed them to him. Cloud made quick work of putting them back on while Zack worked on his own boots, "So are we good?"

"Yes, sir." Cloud's smile was a little easier this time and did not immediately vanish. Zack couldn't help meeting it with one of his own.

He wrapped an arm around Cloud's neck and ruffled his hair, "Hey now, none of that 'sir' stuff. I never called Angeal, sir. Too stuffy. Call me Zack."

Cloud squawked in protest and shoved himself away from Zack's body. He combed his fingers through his hair in a desperate attempt to put it back in some kind of order. It was practically hopeless considering how disheveled it was before Zack had ever touched it, "Alright, alright! Just stop and I'll call you whatever you want!"

"See, you learn quick! This is going to work out great." Zack grinned and strolled out into the hallway, ignoring Cloud's indignant grumbling as they walked toward the elevators.

If he was honest with himself, Zack was not sure he had made the right choice. He was not even sure there was a right choice to make. He liked to think that Aeris was right and that the only way he could have made things worse would have been by doing nothing. In the end, he did not have much of a choice. Strife had tried to fix the world for an untold number of cycles. He had never managed to find the perfect solution, opting instead to try and wipe the slate clean.

Under other circumstances, Zack would have fought to change his mind. He could easily see how he could come to care for Cloud enough that he would haul the blond's comatose body from Nibelheim to Midgar in an attempt to save them both. The kid was stubborn and smart and would be a hell of a fighter once Zack was finished with him. Hopefully, without the burdens that Strife had carried, Cloud would be able to look at the world with fresh eyes and help Zack come up with a way to keep the planet from dying. It was the one thing Strife had not mentioned trying, probably because he had hoped to spare his younger counterpart the pain he had gone through.

Strife should have trusted himself. That was a mistake that Zack was not going to repeat. He could only hope that it was the choice that tipped the scales in their favor once and for all. That would come later. For now, he had a Second Class Soldier to tease and plans to make, not to mention...

"Hey, Cloud, what do you know about shopping for office furniture?


End file.
